( 10.30.05)
Broken Pencil's Canzine Toronto @ The Gladstone:

- overcrowded and badly organized on the main floor, but a fun event nonetheless, full of youthful energy and alt-scene eye candy... a good day to be working a booth, sitting and watching all the people pass by; too bad I can't take in more upper level activities (the real gems today are up there).

- though most here are obsessed with the current wave of disposable fanzine-production, I lived through and participated in the original fanzine movement (put it this way: I know what Factsheet Five is) and unfortunately see little here that really seems inspired or new on the photocopy front (sort of an outsider opinion for this room, I realize)

- what I do find noteworthy is a singular vendor who is selling off parts of a great collection of old canadian rarities: I pick up two extremely rare 'visual novels' by Martin Vaughn-James (The Cage and The Projector) beautiful hardcover books released by Coach House Press in the early 70's! A steal at $40. •

( 10.31.05)
Halloween in Queen West:

...yes, a 30-yr old trick-or-treater (but doesn't she pass for 17 in the dark?)

- plenty of candy collected by Ms. M, while I simultaneously work on my once-a-year "pumpkin documentation" project ... add about 40 new images to the archive

( next year I'd like to get a small crew of people with decent digital cameras to donate an hour of their time to hit the streets with me - I've been playing at this once-a-year for 5 years, and still only have a few hundred images! ) •

( 11.11.05)
Floria Sigismondi speaks @ MOCCA's Immune Book Launch (in conversation with Marc Glassman)

- a good set of videos to look over, if you're not the type to already watch alot of MTV/MuchMusic... nice to see these all together, though she's not well-suited to adapting a Leonard Cohen track and it shows;

- this book was issued by Germany's Die Gestalten in full-colour, hardcover, and is formatted like her previous Redemption book release; though I invested and enjoyed her first book, I don't buy a copy of this expensive new volume at the launch ( I'm sure she doesn't mind, looks like plenty of people are ) •

( 11.17.05)
- Dermot Wilson's 'Big Gorgo' installation @ Propeller, part of a group show called 'Geophysique'...

- photo opp w/ occasional collaborator Dermot Wilson (we toured Western Canada with a performance called Quirk back in 1998, ask one of us about Lethbridge some time... Rampike published a feature on the Quirk thing for a technology issue (Vol.10 No.1, 1998 / ISSN 0711-7647 )

- after the opening we go out for Ethiopian food, chat about old times and discuss new endeavours... happy to know that Dermot's 'Fallout 4' sound project is still in the works (the guy sure knows how to secure project funding!); looks like I'll be heading up to North Bay to participate in F4 in March 2006... playing at manipulating recorded sounds made by moving ice masses.

( Another cool project that Wilson organizes up there that involves capitalizing on the cold weather is Ice Follies ) •

( 11.18.05)
- Dark Adaptation launch @ Cameron House: Pedlar Press publisher Beth Follett interviews artist/author Lorenz Peter

- it is an interesting and informal conversation about the origins of the project; quite enjoyable to hear soft-spoken Lorenz talk about his impressive early-morning work ethic ( he usually completes a page before noon! )

- I go through the entire 130-page graphic novel in one sitting when I return home this evening, a really good read

- sadly, Pedlar doesn't seem to have a website, but you can visit the artist's awkward little website here •

- quick stop-in to the Andy Fabo opening @ MOCCA... at first impression I am struck by the fact that there are some really nice large scale drawings and formatting choices made in this retrospective collection. I'll admit that the show is a bit hard-on obsessed for my tastes (I've always felt that way about Fabo's work), but once you get passed this blatent sexual layer buzzing through the show, you'll notice some beautifully somber portrait pieces exploring Fabo's memories of artist/partner Michael Balser (1952-2002).

- MOCCA's back-room is the real joy here, featuring a museological look at Eldon Garnet's exceptional collection of Impulse Magazine photo-detritus and art ephemera (...he even has a Witkin print on display!)

- breaking anonymity, I chat with Garnet (who I've only ever met briefly - back when I was 18 and in Toronto for a day helping Dutch photographer Teun Hocks install at Cold City) and find out some interesting things about the origins of Impulse, which he explains had its starts as a literary magazine... I'd love to have the opportunity to flip through the original copies of those early issues. •